“Public Forum” for 40B proposals on Tuesday

Above: The Select Board is seeking public comments on two proposed 40B projects proposed on commercial properties on Route 9. (images top-bottom of 250 Turnpike Rd and 120 Turnpike Rd from renderings and GIS Maps)

The Select Board’s agenda for tomorrow night (August 8th) includes a “Public Forum – Mass Housing 40B applications for 120 and 250 Turnpike Road”.

So far, the board’s follow through on holding a forum on the proposed developments is this unpromoted agenda item in their regular meeting.

At their July 11th, members discussed holding a public forum to solicit community feedback before submitting the Town’s comments to MassHousing on Ferris Development’s proposed 40B projects.

Despite the label, this “forum” hasn’t been advertised on the Town’s website or social media. The only public notice of the event is it’s inclusion on the agenda that was posted on Friday.

Based on that agenda, this is the only meeting currently scheduled to take place prior to the comments deadline to MassHousing for the proposed developments. And the agenda also includes approval of the board’s comment letters.

The board was aware in July that several residents near 250 Turnpike Road were upset over the proposed development at that site. But, they didn’t expect to receive pushback on the 120 Turnpike Road development.

As I posted last week, since then, Freddie Gillespie (a member of the Stewardship Committee and Open Space Preservation Commission) made a public comment about the project at a Planning Board meeting. She expressed concern about the potential impact to wildlife in the abutting Town owned conservation land.

Among the board’s goals adopted the summer was to “closely monitor” the application for 120 Turnpike Road and “investigate its appropriateness for the Local Initiative Program (LIP) under Chapter 40B”. Chair Andrew Dennington and member Kathy Cook are the members assigned to overseeing that goal.

Last summer, then-Select Board members Lisa Braccio and Chelsea Malinowski voiced concern to Dennington, the board’s representative on the St. Mark’s Street Public Working Group, that the group had treated its regular open meetings as having met its charge to hold public forums. They explained that “forums” should be promoted to actively seek public input.

At the July 11th meeting, Select Board member Al Hamilton proposed that the board should have a public forum before the comment letter is due. Cook said they should hold that as part of their August 8th meeting.

The board also planned to solicit comments from other boards and committees prior to August 8th* so that they could include them in their discussion at this meeting. Member Al Hamilton volunteered to compile a draft letter based on comments that the board could then make changes to on the 8th.

Town Administrator Mark Purple said the board could vote to approve a letter based on discussed changes. However, MassHousing’s deadline for recieving comments on the projects is August 18th. Members noted that they could schedule a special meeting to focus on the letter prior to that deadline if it proved necessary.

The posted meeting packet doesn’t include a draft letter to MassHousing. But over 200 pages of materials are related to the proposed 40Bs. They include the developer’s application and past presentations to the board. They also including comment letters from the Conservation Commission. (You can also find information in my past coverage, here.)

*In my prior coverage, I referred to August 15th as the deadline the Select Board was giving boards and committees to have their comments incorporated with the Select Board’s response to MassHousing. I can’t find anything that shows that date was communicated. So I assume that was an error on my part. (In the July 11th meeting, the board discussed getting feedback prior to their August meeting, scheduled for August 8th. The agenda had listed the August meeting as scheduled for the 15th, but they voted earlier in the meeting to move it up by a week.)